Last Sunday January 12th, saw a little piece of history written in the seventh winter handicapped grand slam singles event. We eventually got our FIRST ever TWO time winner, albeit from an unlikely source, given the players’ early form and dismal points total. It was a very fresh afternoon as the third event of the season ‘Wimbledon’ took place to leave us with many eventualities for the final slam on Feb 9th to see who can clinch the 8 qualifying places and in which order for the ATP finals. Nine players took the courts with 1 débutante looking to make an impact on the rankings table.

Here is how the 9 players got on with their handicaps in the race to 7 points round robin, in a bid to make the quarter finals and take home big ranking points. Dudley returned looking to secure an ATP final place and Alex Hull came in to upset the apple cart, as Rhiannon, Paul, Dudley, Tim all hoped they could be the first multiple grand slam winner but more importantly grab the 16 ranking points. Once again everyone won at least 2 matches as the slams continue to remain so competitive.

RHIANNON ROBINSON +2 WON 2/8 36 POINTS 9TH as less points than Dave.

TIM BOLAND -1 WON 6/8 50 POINTS 3RD as less points than Dudley and Alex

CHRIS MAGUIRE +1 WON 4/8 47 POINTS 4TH as more points than Paul

PAUL MAGUIRE -3 WON 4/8 35 POINTS 5TH as less points than Chris

GRAYSON MARLOW +1 WON 3/8 45 POINTS 6TH as more points than Jack

JACK EVANS O WON 3/8 42 POINTS 7TH as less points than Grayson

DAVID KHAYAT +3 WON 2/8 40 POINTS 8TH as more points than Rhiannon

DUDLEY WRIGHT -2 WON 6/8 51 POINTS 2ND as less points than Alex

ALEX HULL -1 WON 6/8 53 POINTS 1ST as more points than Dudley

Great display from Alex to top the group with 6 wins, and earn him at least 5 points should he lose in quarter final. Paul should be thankful it goes on Wins before points as 35 was the lowest as he disastrously lost his first four games before responding well, and Rhi just got pipped by Dave for 8th by 3 points, while Chris delivers another consistent display of results in 4th. Onto the quarters where form means nothing in the best of 3 set format.

Paul suddenly playing faultless tennis and stops Alex’s impressive debut run, which already puts him into 8th spot on the leaderboard, where Tim’s 7 points leaves him in joint 2nd. So PAUL or DUDLEY will be that man, the first ever two time winner. Paul, last year’s US OPEN champion and Dudley last years FRENCH OPEN winner. Who’s our 2014 grass court champion going to be?

FINAL

5TH PAUL v 2ND DUDLEY…. PAUL WINS 7-2 3-7 7-4 Another cracking final to end a great event as the rest of the field sips hot chocolate as Paul believed in Miracles from not being able to hit a barn door with a bazooka to finding greatness to win WIMBLEDON in the deciding set, leaving Dudley to think of what might have been. Well played both.

All competitors had a great time in what was another high quality Grand Slam to date, the handicaps are there to give every possibility for close games and unpredictable results, but they can’t account for players being in top form or being totally out of sorts, or how players can react to coping with the handicaps given in pressure situations.

Remember, you can still qualify for the ATP finals even if you didn’t enter the 3 previous Opens, 16 points for the win at the US OPEN may just scrape you in if results go your way.

FEBRUARY 9TH US OPEN 1PM ENTER NOW

MARCH 2ND ATP FINALS 1PM, for top 8 only, no replacements.

Here’s what the Wimbledon results do to the leaderboard.

1ST PAUL MAGUIRE 28

2ND LUKE GWALCHMAI 26

2ND TIM BOLAND 26

4TH DUDLEY WRIGHT 23

5TH CHRIS MAGUIRE 19

6TH RYAN BRAZIER 16

7TH JACK EVANS 15

8TH ALEX HULL 10

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9TH GRAYSON MARLOW 8

10TH RHIANNON ROBINSON 5

11TH DALLA GHUMAN 4

12TH DAVID KHAYAT 3

13TH CRAIG EASTWOOD 1

13TH MICHAEL BOLAND 1

So some may opt out of US open, but remember 1st v 8th, 4th v 5th, 3rd v 6th, 2nd v 7th, so just be careful you don’t land your bogeyman by not playing, a top 4 finish from 11th upwards may do it, and a win certainly will, from 6th place down, playing is highly recommended if you want your shot at the £60 cash prize and title, over to you guys to do the maths. 1st – 16 2nd -13 3rd- 10 4th- 7 5th- 5 6th- 4 7th- 3 8th- 2 playing -1.

Paul takes top spot, Alex becomes a contender, Grayson needs a big US open, See you on the 9th Feb.